Fear of Starfish / Spiders Larger than the size of a Quarter

by Ashley

My name is Ashley. I'm 18 years old and currently attending college. I've researched my phobia and to this day have not found any information on it. I am deathly afraid of starfish. The thought of them makes me cringe and my heart instantly starts to race. Just imagining someone holding a starfish frightens me. I just imagine the starfish engulfing that person arm and moving up to their shoulder.

I can't take this anymore.

Just recently my mom returned from a trip to the beach. She gave my brothers, sister, and I souvenirs. My brothers got t-shirts, my sister got a sand dollar, and my mom brought me a dried starfish. I felt so bad for what happened. I screamed at it, knocked it out of her hand, and ran away. This has got to stop. I don’t know what to do.

I am also deathly afraid of spiders larger than a quarter. I don’t know if these phobias have anything to do with each other, but I need relief!

Does anyone know anything about this? It’s really affecting my life for the worse, especially since I’m in college and so many opportunities afford me to do so many things.

It’s gotten worse over the years, seeing a spider, just freaks me out. I remember one time we have just moved into our new house over the summer, and I was helping to unpack things in my brothers room. When I looked up at the bed there was a black and yellow stripped spider on their bed, larger than my hand . . . I couldn’t even form words in my mouth, I was so frightened I couldn’t even scream. I was almost frightened to the point where I froze. Luckily, I was able to regain the movement of my legs, and as soon as I did I ran down the stairs and out of the house.

I wouldn’t go back in until my dad told me he killed it, even then I didn’t believe him and was hesitant to return. That night I couldn’t even sleep and I curled up into a little ball under my comforter, even though it was the middle of summer, and the air was not on. My tired body got the best of me and I fell asleep, but for the next three years we lived in the house, I was always hesitant about walking around barefoot.

As time went by, in the window of my room (I slept in a room on the back of the house) spiders began making their webs all over. I wouldn’t even open my window. It freaked my out. Every night the spiders in the web, which were the size doorknobs would hang down, waiting to catch insects. During the day, they wouldn’t be there. I put up black curtains and never removed them. One day my mom removed the curtains and my dad opened the window, thinking that it would cure me. NO . . . it didn’t, when I came home, I screamed and ran out of the house again, only this time I wouldn’t return back to my room, I slept in the living room, curled up in my comforter.

It’s just as worse now, and my roommate is getting unnerved about it. Please help!!!!